The war in Yangzhou City was temporarily over. Dorgon led the remaining troops back to Huai'an City and sat on the side of the Huai River. The situation suddenly became clear.

Sometimes it’s a pity that it’s a pity that Yangzhou is a fertile land.

There were no traces of Qing soldiers from Gaoyou to the south, and the Jurchens escaped the pain of staying in the wild during the rainy season.

Zhai Zhe was not in a hurry to continue his march, so he first posted a notice in the name of the general, exempting Yangzhou Prefecture from land tax for three years and relocating refugees who fled.

The Ming army set up a camp in Gaoyou City.

The city walls of Gaoyou City are full of holes, and countless defensive facilities are arranged inside the four gates. The houses in the city are stripped down and several camps are built to block the shelling outside the city.

When defending the city was the most critical, Yan Yingyuan organized the male members in the city into ten teams, and the elderly, weak, women and children into four battalions. Men, women, young and old, regardless of poverty, wealth and honor, must participate in defending the city, so as to ensure that Gaoyou City is not lost.

The integration of the squire and the untouchables is really a shameless person. However, when facing Yan Yingyuan's big sword, no one dares to say the word "no".

King Jin led his personal guards to Gaoyou City. Yan Yingyuan came to pay homage, followed by Chen Mingyu, Wang Gongluo and Li Daqing.

Yan Yingyuan expressed his respectful expression and reported the military situation, and finally talked about the casualties in the city.

"Our army's main soldiers were killed and seriously injured in battle, 3,500 soldiers were killed and seriously injured in battle, and more than 20,000 people in the city were injured and killed."

He said those cold numbers in his mouth, and could not hear any emotion.

Chen Mingyu and Li Daqing looked at Yan Yingyuan's back and were in a heavy mood.

The serious injury, which is also known as death in battle, refers to serious injuries that have lost the ability to fight again and cannot return to the military formation through treatment.

"It turns out that nearly half of the casualties have been killed or killed." Zhai Zhe looked at Yan Yingyuan with a different look. Those who can maintain nearly half of the casualties of soldiers and horses without any confusion must have extraordinary talents.

"General Yan, thank you for your hard work. The defenders of Gaoyou City guarded the city in blood and made great contributions to our Ming Dynasty defeating the Qing barbarians. I have now changed all the government soldiers in the city to regular soldiers. All the government soldiers who died in battle are also waiting for them as regular soldiers."

"Prince Xie" Yan Yingyuan's voice was a little aroused.

The military pay and treatment of the main soldiers far exceeded that of the government soldiers. Zhai Zhe changed those government soldiers to the main soldiers, and this kind of reward was much more popular than a few taels of silver. Moreover, the main soldiers and the government soldiers in Gaoyou City combined more than 10,000 people, and Yan Yingyuan obtained the power of command, one step away from being a general.

Behind Yan Yingyuan, Li Daqing raised his head and peeked at the King of Jin on the high platform.

The day before yesterday, when the situation in Gaoyou City was critical, he was ordered to go to Yangzhou camp for help, and then returned to Gaoyou City alone, swearing to live and die with Gaoyou City. Today, he felt very uncomfortable when he saw Yan Yingyuan's promotion and title. As expected, a general succeeded and ten thousand bones were woven.

He was inspired by the order of shaving his head, and joined the army by pen. After entering the martial arts lecture hall, he performed excellently. The battle of Gaoyou made him see the ruthlessness of the war and understood that the battlefield was not as desirable as it was sung in military songs.

A few days later, the generals reported their merits, and those who made meritorious service were rewarded. The general was in charge and the Ming army was rewarded with convenient rewards. The rewards were all in one month. The promotion and title were immediately reflected. Li Daqing was promoted to the coordinated garrison in the army.

The Ming army in Yangzhou Prefecture was divided into two parts. Fengqin assisted the general in charge of Gaoyou's camp, while Li Zhize led his other half of his troops to guard Yangzhou City.

The military affairs have not been handled yet, Nanjing Admiral Jin Xiaoding sent a secret letter.

The soldiers of Yingtian Mansion searched the river for three days. The navy caught countless turtle turtles from the river road. The little eunuch Zhang Jin still couldn't see anyone alive or dead.

The secret letter was very thick, and Jin Xiaoding honestly apologized and recorded the information he knew in detail in the whole incident.

After watching it, Zhai Zhe was extremely irritable.

Emperor Longwu was not honest. If the eunuch escaped alive, he would either go to Fujian or Sichuan.

Zheng Zhilong was not afraid, but he now asked Wu Sangui for help. If the emperor's secret edict was really passed to Wu Sangui, the King of Zhenxi might not dare to raise an army to clear the king, but he could refuse his proposal to send troops to Shaanxi.

Of course, he did not rule out the worst situation - Zheng Zhilong and Wu Sangui conspired to raise an army to attack Jiangnan. That's true, the Northern Expedition is about to stop for the time being.

He thought for a moment and picked up his pen and wrote a document.

"The eunuch Zhang Jin committed the crime of deceiving the emperor and fled for fear of the crime. He ordered portraits of the palaces in Zhili, Zhejiang and Huguang to be arrested. Those who found Zhang Jin's traces were rewarded with 50 taels of silver.

The general's mansion sent the official documents to the Ministry of Justice, and then the Ministry of Justice went to various places to police the documents. The weather vane in Jiangnan changed drastically. Zhai Zhe thought carefully and left a mercy to the cabinet.

If Zheng Zhilong and Wu Sangui are really confused, he still needs to rely on the power of those civil servants.

In early June, an announcement on the arrest of Zhang Jin was posted all prefectures and counties.

A fleet set out from Nanjing and went upstream.

In the middle is a passenger ship, with Zhang Huan, a doctor from the Ministry of Rites, sitting at the bow of the ship, and two other naval warships guarding it.

Zhang Huan is an old acquaintance of Wu Sangui. He was promoted from Liu Suifeng's aide to a doctor in the Ministry of Rites, and the promotion fell on Wu Sangui.

In early June, sailing in the Yangtze River. As long as it does not rain, the scenery along the way can make people forget the fatigue of the journey.

Zhang Huan was holding a rewarded imperial edict and a letter from the general. Before leaving, he went to ask Liu Suifeng for instructions to avoid misunderstanding the general's intentions.

When Wu Sangui learned that the imperial envoy was in the future, he ordered Wu Sanrong to come out of Sichuan to welcome him.

Wu Sanrong led Zhang Huan into Sichuan. Whenever he went to important places, he vividly told Zhang Xianzhong's cruel and inhuman behavior in Sichuan, and the killings caused by the Qing soldiers in Sichuan.

Wu Sangui has been in charge of Sichuan for less than a year, and Sichuan has recovered some popularity.

The Qing emperors entered Sichuan to implement the hair shaving order. Chengdu, Jiangzhou obeyed under the butcher knife, but the rebels who were in charge of the incident were never extinguished. Last year, Wu Sangui sent an imperial envoy to announce the order, and the rebels were disbanded and returned to their respective places.

Zhang Huan could understand along the way that Wu Sanrong's move was not a whim, but hoped that he could convey these things about Sichuan to the King of Jin. Zhenxi was not only for state affairs, but also for saving Sichuan people from the fire and water.

The group entered Chengdu, and Zhang Huan first worshiped the Wuhou Temple and met Wu Sangui, the King of the West.

First, the imperial edict was announced to the court for rewards. After the ceremony, Zhang Huan handed the imperial edict to Wu Sangui, changed his expression, bowed and smiled, "Prince, don't be fine."

"Empress Zhang has worked hard all the way." Wu Sangui asked Zhang Huan to sit down.

The two of them sat down with the guest and the host. Zhang Huan seemed to have changed his identities and said, "Last year, the Qing army Ajige attacked Hanzhong from Longxi. Because it was almost cold winter, the general was unable to send troops to rescue him. This year, the general raised an army to attack Jianghuai, seized Yangzhou, and restrained the Qing army of more than 100,000. Why didn't the prince take the opportunity to attack Hanzhong to recover the lost territory?"

He took out a letter from his arms and said, "The General heard that I was coming to Sichuan, so he wrote a letter in Yangzhou City. He quickly sent it to Nanjing and asked me to bring it to the prince."

Wu Sangui took the letter with both hands and said with a smile: "Sichuan is thousands of miles away from Nanjing, and I have heard that the King of Jin is attacking Jianghuai." This is a very clumsy excuse.

"The General Zuo Ruo of Yuezhou fought fiercely with Lukede in Nanyang for half a year to restrain the Qing army last winter, and the prince should have heard of it."

Wu Sangui smiled and asked, "I heard that Yangzhou has been abandoned. I wonder where the King of Jin wants to carry out the war?"

Zhang Huan said without thinking, "The Capital"

Wu Sangui just laughed.

Zhang Huan changed his tone and asked: "Does the prince know the experience of King Jin entering the Ming Dynasty?"

"I have heard a little about it. King Jin once was a powerful figure in the grassland."

"Yes, does the prince know about the recent changes in the Monan grassland?"

"Are you talking about Chahar's detachment?" Wu Sangui's face had not changed, and his heart was filled with turmoil. He heard that Chahar's great Khan Ezhe had started an uprising in the grasslands in the south of the desert, but he did not know the role of King Jin in this matter.

Zhang Huan said: "When King Jin was on the grassland, he was almost a sworn friend with the Mongolian Khan Ezhe. If King Jin had not encouraged him, how could Ezhe raise an army to fight against the Qing Dynasty?" The King of Jin did not take the initiative to reveal these news to him, and he would not know the inside story.

Wu Sangui didn't believe it. What was Zhai Zhe's identity when he was on the grassland? How could he become a sworn friend with Ezhe?

"According to the agreement between Ezhe Khan and King Jin, Ezhe will invade Shaanxi in the near future, and may also attack Shanxi, or Henan. The situation in the world is already so clear. The prince holds heavy troops. Could it be that he only traps Shu and allows the Qing army to be rampant?"

Wu Sangui was frightened this time.

Ezhe was a great Khan from Mongolia, not a minister of the Ming Dynasty, nor a subordinate of the King of Jin. What kind of sworn friends are used to coax children to listen to? Zhaizhe has occupied the richest land in the Ming Dynasty. If there is an ally of Mongolia, will there be any question about the belonging of the world?

He occupied Sichuan and was appointed as the King of the West, and could further separate the rule of law. He could also be a minister of the Ming Dynasty if he took a step back.

"Are you really that?"

Zhang Huan bowed and said, "How dare the little envoy deceive the prince?"

Wu Sangui was puzzled and said, "Mongolia must go through the strong Yulinwei when entering Shaanxi. Shaanxi is poor and the Mongols are unable to capture a big city like Xi'an. How could Ezhe abandon Zhangjiakou to take Shaanxi?"

"Because the King of Jin needs it," Zhang Huan said bluntly, "There are young cavalry in the Ming Dynasty, and it is extremely difficult to fight against the Qing barbarians in the Central Plains. The King of Jin wants to open up the northwest passage and traffic war horses from the grassland."

King Jin needs a war horse, will Ezhe send the horse here? Wu Sangui's mind is not that simple.

Mongolia and the Ming court in Jiangnan were thousands of miles apart. The fact that the two sides could reach such a covenant shows that the trust between Ezhe Khan and King Zhai Zhe of Jin was quite high. Not a sworn friend, but the two must have established a foundation of trust in the grassland.

"What order does the King of Jin have? Envoy Zhang please tell me directly."

"Hanzhong was originally the prince's territory, and the King of Jin hoped that the prince could retrieve the lost city."

Wu Sangui smiled bitterly and said, "It's me that I really don't have this ability. Ajige is still in Hanzhong."

"Chahar Mongolia attacked Shaanxi, Zuo Ruohui mobilized a large army to attack Nanyang, Ajige would not sit in Hanzhong for long, so the prince should not stand idly by then.

Without Wu Sangui's support and cooperation, it would be difficult for Zuo Ruo's troops to go out of Xiangyang to pose a threat. Wu Sangui had tens of thousands of cavalry, which was the lack of mobile power in the Ming Dynasty.

"As long as Ajige leaves Hanzhong, I will definitely send troops," Wu Sangui immediately expressed his opinion.

"After the prince recovered Hanzhong, he could not stop there."
Chapter completed!